12 Days of Christmas: Heiji and Kazuha
by Candyland
Summary: On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...twelve unrelated minifics for a Heiji and Kazuha Christmas!
1. O Christmas Tree

**Title: **O Christmas Tree  
**Author: **Candyland  
**Theme: **_Day One: _Christmas trees  
**Series: **Detective Conan  
**Pairing: **Hattori Heiji/Toyama Kazuha  
**Rating: **PG  
**Warnings: **…does silliness count?  
**Disclaimer of Evil: **I don't own Detective Conan. All characters and concepts are the sole property of Gosho Aoyama. I merely borrow them and make them my love slaves…ahem.

* * *

_O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree  
Of all the trees, most lovely...  
_

"Kazuha," Heiji said with surprising calmness, " I realize that you're a little upset with me."

"What gave you that idea?" she responded casually, fiddling with the tinsel.

"Call it a hunch, or detective's intuition or whatever," he replied, squirming a bit uncomfortably. "But I really think you're overdoing it. Just a bit."

"No, I don't think so," Kazuha shook her head. "I think it's perfect." She finished with the thin, silvery strips of tinsel, and started digging through the box again. Christmas tree decorations were always such a mess, but it was worth it in the end.

"No, really, knock it off!" he yelled, struggling unsuccessfully to move his arms. They remained trapped firmly at his sides, and he growled angrily.

"Not until after I take pictures," she said, hanging an ornament off the brim of his cap.

And with that, she put the star on top of the Heiji-tree, and plugged everything in before stepping back to take a look at her handiwork. "Heiji, this is the best you have ever looked," she cheered.

"Shaddup and get these lights off me."

* * *

**PS. **_I have absolutely no idea where this came from…but I giggled for the entire ten minutes it took to write this out._ _I've realized that I love challenges. This is for the LJ Twelve Days of Christmas Challenge. Since I'm already doing Shinichi/Ran for 30 Kisses, figured I'd give Heiji/Kazuha a go. Twelve days, twelve unrelated mini-fics. My Christmas project for the year. See y'all tomorrow for Day Two!_


	2. Merry Christmas with Love

**Title: **Merry Christmas with Love  
**Author: **Candyland  
**Theme: **_Day Two: _Happiness, the number two, friendship, peace, joy… (pretty much everything listed)  
**Series: **Detective Conan  
**Pairing: **Hattori Heiji/Toyama Kazuha  
**Rating: **PG  
**Warnings: **This one is sappy.  
**Disclaimer of Evil: **I don't own Detective Conan. All characters and concepts are the sole property of Gosho Aoyama. I merely borrow them and make them my love slaves…ahem.

* * *

_Merry Christmas to all who may dwell here  
Merry Christmas, if even just one  
May the joy of the season surround you  
Merry Christmas with love...  
_

One plus one equals two.

The most basic of mathematical equations, the first problem that young children are taught to chant back for Teacher's satisfaction. It had its practical applications as well, though.

Kazuha smiled at the young man walking beside her, laughing inwardly. He was trying his damndest to look completely uninterested as she stopped and pointed at decorations in windows and objects on display. And as they moved away from the stores and into more residential areas, she pointed to the Christmas lights and various decorations on houses.

Heiji was trying desperately to look like he didn't care, but even he couldn't keep that glow from his eyes, that shine that became brighter and more pronounced with each house they looked at. And Kazuha had to laugh a little at her longtime best friend. For all his brilliance, he could still be so very young.

And with each little whine or complaint, he grew a little softer, a little less convincing, until finally they wandered along silently, side by side. There was enough snow on the ground to make things pretty, but not enough to make a real mess. It was quite peaceful.

They paused by a house with particularly lovely decorations and lights, and Kazuha glanced over at him. His viridian eyes were almost luminous. It was so amazing to her, how he could go from such genius on a crime-scene to that childlike awe at the sight of blinking Christmas lights.

Something caught her eye, and her gaze trailed downwards. Earlier, his glove-clad hands had been shoved in his pockets to further his image of pouting. Now his hand was just hanging there, dangling by his side. She swallowed hard, gathered her nerve—

—and reached out, grabbing his hand and holding on.

Heiji's gaze dropped to stare at their hands in surprise before raising it to look at her. She willed herself not to blush (not that it would have been terribly obvious, as her face was already flushed from the cold), and kept her eyes straight ahead.

His hand moved, and she almost let go…

…until she realized that he hadn't. He'd simply adjusted, entwining their gloved fingers in a more comfortable hold. Now she looked up at him—and realized that he was looking down at her.

He smiled tentatively.

She smiled back. "Merry Christmas, Heiji."

And they walked together, hand in hand, enjoying the lights and the snow and each other's company. Even as clumsy as they could both be when trying to say certain things, there were some things that they just didn't need to say aloud.

They had always been together.

Hattori Heiji and Toyama Kazuha. Two people—one plus one.

But somehow, no matter which way you looked at it, it still equaled one.

* * *

**PS. **_Okay, sappy, I know. But fun. And **fireblazie**, I promise you that at some point during the course of this challenge, I will get Heiji and Kazuha under the mistletoe. Snogging will ensue, just for you, hon. Thanks, everyone, and much love!_


	3. Wassail, Wassail

**Title: **Wassail, Wassail  
**Author: **Candyland  
**Theme: **_Day Three: _Food  
**Series: **Detective Conan  
**Pairing: **Hattori Heiji/Toyama Kazuha  
**Rating: **PG  
**Warnings: **This one is weird.  
**Disclaimer of Evil: **I don't own Detective Conan. All characters and concepts are the sole property of Gosho Aoyama. I merely borrow them and make them my love slaves…ahem.

* * *

_Wassail, wassail all over the town  
Our toast, it is white and our ale, it is brown  
Our bowl is made of the white maple tree  
With the wassail bowl, we'll drink to thee...  
_

Kazuha stared. She couldn't help it.

She appreciated wholeheartedly that it was Christmas, and food was a big part of that.

But watching Heiji eat was a decidedly unique experience. For one, conversation (intelligent or not) was not always a guarantee when he was hungry. Until she had seen him do it, she hadn't believed it was possible for someone to actually inhale a "bite" bigger than their mouth.

It was simple common sense around their family, friends, and classmates: one just did _not_ get between Heiji and his meal. It could potentially be hazardous to one's health.

So she sat quietly beside him, observing, taking in her own dinner a little more slowly.

On occasion, she wondered how in the world he could eat like that and still stay so thin.

He set his chopsticks down for a moment in favor of the warm mug of cider steaming expectantly beside his plate. It was as he was setting it back down that he noticed the observation, and looked back at her quizzically. "What? Do I have something on my face?"

She shook her head. "No. Just looking."

The faintest tinge of pink touched his cheeks under her scrutiny, and he cleared his throat nervously before quickly turned back to his heaping plate of food. Kazuha stared for a minute longer. And then she sighed and smiled, turning back to her own servings.

She loved Heiji. She truly did, both as a friend, and on another level that ran far deeper—he knew all of that. It was one of the reasons she was so glad she could be with him on Christmas.

And so she popped another morsel into her mouth, continuing to watch him unobtrusively out of the corner of her eye. He didn't notice. And she chuckled as he continued to shovel it in.

Heiji. Her fierce, adorable, walking bottomless pit.

* * *

**PS. **_I'm surprised that Heiji's insatiable appetite hasn't become more of a running fanfiction gag. I seriously believe that the guy has at least two stomachs, possibly more—has anyone else noticed that he is ALWAYS hungry? I think it's amusing. Yeah, this was kind of weird. Oh well. Thanks, and much love!_


	4. Good King Wenceslas

**Title: **Good King Wenceslas  
**Author: **Candyland  
**Theme: **_Day Four: _Songs, carols, conversation, talking to the family (they're close enough)  
**Series: **Detective Conan  
**Pairing: **Hattori Heiji/Toyama Kazuha  
**Rating: **PG  
**Warnings: **This one is silly.  
**Disclaimer of Evil: **I don't own Detective Conan. All characters and concepts are the sole property of Gosho Aoyama. I merely borrow them and make them my love slaves…ahem.

* * *

_Good king Wenceslas looked out  
On the feast of Stephen  
When the snow lay round-about  
Deep and crisp and even...  
_

"Heiji!"

He looked at her, a little sheepishly, but as defiant as ever. "What, aho?"

Kazuha managed to fight down the urge to roll her eyes—or punch him in the face—and sighed instead. "Heiji, I'm not complaining about your singing voice. You actually have a pretty good voice. But there is one little problem."

He had to have known what she was going to say, but decided to be stubborn, just like always. "And what might that be?"

Kazuha pointed at the caroling song book in her hands. "The carol is _Good King Wenceslas_."

"Yeah?"

"The first words are as follows: Good king Wenceslas looked out," she said slowly.

"Yeah…"

"Not 'Good king wants his applesauce.'"

"…I knew that."

"Learn the damn words."

* * *

**PS. **_I saw this on a Christmas card once, and it became a running joke amongst my friends and I—when we're singing Christmas carols, somebody will start singing "Good king wants his applesauce" to the tune of "Good King Wenceslas.". I can just see Heiji doing that, trying to pretend he knows the words._

_BTW, don't suppose anyone has noticed that I'm naming all the chapters after Christmas carols? Because I am. I like themes. Anyhoo, thanks a million, everyone, and much love!_


	5. Silver and Gold

**Title: **Silver and Gold  
**Author: **Candyland  
**Theme: **_Day Five: _Rings, gold, friendship, love  
**Series: **Detective Conan  
**Pairing: **Hattori Heiji/Toyama Kazuha  
**Rating: **PG  
**Warnings: **This one is long (by comparison).  
**Disclaimer of Evil: **I don't own Detective Conan. All characters and concepts are the sole property of Gosho Aoyama. I merely borrow them and make them my love slaves…ahem.

* * *

_Silver and gold, silver and gold  
Mean so much more when I see  
Silver and gold decorations  
On every Christmas tree... _

The phone jangled loudly, stirring Kazuha from a fairly pleasant sleep.

She glanced at the clock. It was still before noon. Yeah, definitely too early.

Somewhat begrudgingly, she dragged herself from her bed, ending up face-down on the floor with her legs tangled in the bedclothes. After unwrapping the sheets from her limbs, she crawled over and picked up the receiver—if only to make the irritating ringing stop.

"…'lo?" she mumbled, bowing before politeness long enough to find out who was on the other end before she delivered a scathing reprimand to whoever-it-was for waking her up.

Heiji's cheerful voice rang through the earpiece. "Woke you up, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did," she yawned. "You have five seconds to explain to me why I haven't hung up the phone yet." She rubbed sleepily at her eyes. From the other side of the room, she could hear her pillow calling to her. It was saying _Kazuha, come cuddle_. Oh, how she longed to obey…

"You can't stay in bed all day," he chided. "It's Christmas Eve! There's stuff to do!"

"Three seconds…"

"Okay, okay. Look out your window," he instructed.

"Why?"

"Just do it."

Mumbling several uncomplimentary things under her breath, she obliged. She was startled to see that it was snowing—bit fat white flakes that drifted straight down to Earth with no wind to blow them around. She was stunned to see that the ground was completely blanketed with snow, sparkling silvery-white in the morning light. But she was only mildly surprised to see Heiji standing on the sidewalk on the other side of the street, cell phone against his ear. He was grinning and waving broadly at her. Even from this distance, she could see the snowflakes sparkling like glitter in his dark hair. He wasn't wearing his cap—what was the occasion, she wondered wryly.

"I take it you want me to come out and play?" she said, amusement faintly coloring her tone.

"Can you can you can you?" he chirped.

She sighed. Twenty years old, and he was still such a child.

"I have a present for you…" he pleaded, his voice lilting up a few intervals. "Please?"

Kazuha smiled, knowing full well she had lost the battle. "All right. I'll be down in a couple of minutes." As she replied, she was already reaching into her closet for a coat. "Don't freeze, okay?"

"Great! See you in a couple!" he cheered.

Within two minutes, she was out the door and on the sidewalk, still pulling the ribbon on her ponytail tight as she stepped out into the snow.. Heiji was waiting with a big grin on his face and snow still speckled in his hair. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah…what's going on?" she asked, slipping her arm through his and rising up on tiptoe to give him a quick peck on the cheek. "It's not like you to be up and moving before me."

In the earliest days, when their _real_ relationship was just starting to bud, that simple gesture would have sent him immediately to the point of spontaneous combustion and had him walking around—and probably right into walls—with a huge, dopey grin on his face for the rest of the day. Now, after two years, he simply grinned and tightened his arm around hers. "Oh, thought you'd want to play in the snow."

She quickly discovered that he was serious. She was only slightly slower in discovering that the newly-fallen snow was a perfect powder, the ideal snow for diving, jumping, and romping.

And snow-angels, it was discovered after they'd been outside for a while.

Kazuha found a particularly deep snow-drift, and crawled out on top of it, claiming she wanted to make a snow-angel out there. She successfully made the snow-angel, and started to walk back…only to suddenly sink up to her chest in the snow-drift. It was actually _that_ deep.

"Heiji…help…" she called after struggling for a minute. "I'm stuck…" He rolled his eyes, but he was laughing as he crawled out on the snow bank to play hero. She was freed in short order, and they continued crawling…until _Heiji_ sank and got stuck, and roles were reversed as Kazuha had to rescue _him_.

Once they were both back on safe, solid ground, Kazuha flopped back down on the snow, arms spread wide. "It's a beautiful day, isn't it?" And it was—it was just cold enough for the snow, without being overly freezing.

After a moment, Heiji joined her on the snow bank. "Yeah…beautiful…"

She glanced over in time to see him avert his eyes. After a moment of watching him, she inched a little closer; she dug her elbows into the snow to prop herself up. "Hey…didn't you say you had a present for me?" she asked innocently.

He smirked. "Are you sure you want it now? Or would you rather wait for tomorrow?"

"Now now now!" she chirped.

"You sure?"

"YES!" She realized somewhat belatedly that not long ago she had been mentally laughing at his childishness. Was she really any better? …oh well, who cared, it was Christmas!

He visibly wavered before he nodded; suddenly, he looked a bit nervous. "Okay." He bit down on the tip of the index finger of one snow-caked glove and pulled it off before he reached into the pocket of his jacket. "Here…for you." He paused. "I hope…"

She stared at the small box (correction: small _white_ box, bearing a _remarkable_ resemblance to something one might get from, oh, say, a jewelry store…) now resting innocently in her hands. Was this…?

Kazuha's head wheeled to stare at Heiji. He too had propped himself up on his elbows and was facing straight ahead, but his eyes were drifting in her direction. His face was absolutely scarlet beneath the silvery snow-speckled darkness of his hair. Under her scrutiny, one hand slid up to rub at the back of his neck. He was silent.

Ooooookay, he was officially showing ALL of the Classic Heiji Signs of Nervousness. Over a small white box. Kazuha might not have been a detective, but even she could put the pieces together.

They were both freezing by now, of course. One can only spend so long on one's back in a snowdrift (and it's really not a very long time at all) before one begins to lose feeling in ones nether-quarters. It's a sad fact of nature. But neither was really paying attention to the increasing numbness in rather strategic areas.

She stared at him for a minute, then turned slowly back to the box. Her fingers trembled only slightly as she popped the lid open and looked, not even realizing she was holding her breath.

Really, she should not have been surprised. But her hand still slid to cover her mouth. Christmas present, indeed. It was Christmassy in a way, though—after all, both diamonds and snow did have a certain sparkle to them. Not that Kazuha was really thinking about _that_…

Heiji watched her intently; he was waiting for the surprise to go away a little before he actually asked, and he was remembering the mini-ordeal he'd had to endure for that tiny little box…

* * *

"_I can't believe you're going to do it…" Kudo smirked. But he was just being Kudo, of course, and thus Heiji reined in his temper and masterfully resisted the urge to beat his friendly rival over the head with whatever heavy object happened to be within reach._

"_Shut up," he settled for retorting instead—it was particularly witty, but it would just have to do. "Are you going to help me or not?" He reached out to push open the door to the jewelry store…and his hand trembled ever so slightly._

_Kudo stopped, and actually looked sympathetic. "You really are nervous, aren't you?"_

"_What do you think?" Heiji spat, a little more venomously than he had really intended, and he instantly regretted it. "Sorry…I just…come on, let's get this over with." He'd come to Tokyo to do this particular errand for a few reasons. First of all, by not telling Kazuha (or Neechan, for that matter) he was here, there was little chance that she would find out about it, and no chance that he would somehow manage to run into her. Secondly, no one he knew would see him and perhaps let something slip._

_And perhaps most importantly, when he'd somewhat sheepishly mentioned the matter to Kudo, the Tokyo-tantei had volunteered to go with him for moral support and the prerequisite heckling._

_Once inside, though, he realized exactly how many options he had to sift through to find the right one. There seemed to be no end to those things. As they approached one of the classes, an elderly gentleman wearing a nametag with the store logo on it approached them. "Can I help you youngins?"_

_Heiji looked ready to bolt, but Kudo wasn't having any of that. He grabbed his friend's elbow and replied congenially, "My friend here is looking for…The Ring." Emphasis on the last two words made it clear that no, he wasn't talking about anything involving hobbits, he was talking about the other Ring._

_The clerk, who was probably old enough to be their grandfather, caught on immediately and smiled in understanding. "Ah, I see. Well, step right up, young man. Now," he chuckled lightly as the lighter-skinned boy bodily pushed his friend forward, "who's the recipient?"_

"_K-Kazuha…" Heiji mumbled._

"_His girlfriend," Shinichi clarified, smirking._

"_Tell me about the lucky lady," the clerk went on. "What kind of a person is she?"_

_That opened the floodgates a bit more, and while Heiji talked, answering direct questions about it, the elderly man seemed to look through the display case. And just as Heiji was running out of things to say, the clerk set a box in front of him. "Might this be suited to the young lady?"_

_One small diamond, on a gold band._ _Simple, and beautiful. Just like his Kazuha. And it was shiny, too, but Heiji didn't say that aloud. He simply stared at the salesman, who smiled knowingly, then back down at the ring._

"_Perfect," Heiji finally nodded. Even Kudo, peering over his shoulder, was unusually quiet, opting instead to merely nod in agreement. It was the perfect choice for her._

_Of course, the awe of perfection didn't stop Kudo from teasing him all the way back to Agasa's house—the doctor knew of their mission, and had demanded that they return and show him their prize—about how long he would have the ring before he actually popped The Question._

_Heiji was surprisingly tolerant, though. He waited until they were on the good doctor's doorstep before he turned around and let Kudo have it. Then he went inside to show Agasa-hakase the Prize.

* * *

_

"Heiji…?" Kazuha waited.

She saw him take a deep breath before he turned to face her fully. "So…will you marry me?"

Kazuha was silent a moment, contemplative…staring. Then she pounced—careful not to injure the ring, of course. And Heiji, not expecting the suddenly assault on his person, ended up getting slammed backwards into the snow bank.

His first thought was that the snow making its way under his shirt was insanely cold.

His second thought was that Kazuha was kissing him and the world was absolutely _beautiful_.

His third thought was…pretty much the same as his second one, thank you very much.

After quite a few moments...they were in the midst of a snowball fight. Well, not really snowballs, it wasn't good packing snow, so it was more of a 'pick up a handful of snow and throw it and watch it fall apart and rain down like cold white confetti on the victim' fight.

There were no long moments spent gazing dreamily into each other's eyes, no pet-names (though their only real pet name for each other was 'ahou,' but we won't go there), no real lovey-dovey stuff. There had been one absolutely awesome kiss, but that was it. After all, that really wasn't their style.

Their style was more along the lines of what they were doing after they clambered out of the snow pile, completely soaked and caked in snow. They were arguing loudly about the fact that Kazuha had decidedly to joyfully shove more snow down Heiji's back as he was struggling to get up, and he took some offense. Calls of "ahou" abounded as they walked along.

However, an astute observer would have noticed that the two arguing so heatedly were walking very close together, and their gloved hands were entwined. However, not even the most careful of observers could have seen the gold ring now adorning the young lady's hand under her glove.

* * *

**PS. **_Okay, so it's a bit (read: WAAAAY) longer than a drabble, but I stand by it because it actually came out almost exactly as it appeared in my head. Actually, as I finished this one, my friends and I had just come back from a thrilling romp through the snow. It was great!_

_Someone I know (who recently proposed to his lady-friend) told me, almost verbatim, the story about the jewelry store clerk. The guy just started chatting, asking questions about the recipient of the ring, what she was like, etc., and then promptly handed over the perfect ring. He was amazed. I'm thinking, "There is a man who knows his job."_

_The cliché…the waff…it all chews on my head and won't let go…thanks again, and much love!_


	6. Grown Up Christmas List

**Title: **Grown-Up Christmas List  
**Author: **Candyland  
**Theme: **_Day Six: _Birth, family, feasts  
**Series: **Detective Conan  
**Pairing: **Hattori Heiji/Toyama Kazuha  
**Rating: **PG  
**Warnings: **This one is pretty.  
**Disclaimer of Evil: **I don't own Detective Conan. All characters and concepts are the sole property of Gosho Aoyama. I merely borrow them and make them my love slaves…ahem.

* * *

_Do you remember me?  
I sat upon your knee  
I wrote to you with childhood fantasies  
Well, I'm all grown up now  
And still need help somehow  
I'm not a child, but my heart still can dream... _

She is beautiful, Heiji reflects—not for the first time, though. He has had plenty of time to observe, and each time he notices something new, some new facet to her that reflects the light in a different direction and shines with an entirely new glow.

He shuts off the overhead light. Now the only glow in the room comes from the lights on the Christmas tree; they twinkle and sparkle like stars, casting tiny dots of multicolored light on her skin. She does not notice, and she does not stir. It has been a long day.

A long day, indeed.

They entertained the family today, in honor of the holiday. Two sets of parents joined the young couple, married less than a year, to celebrate Christmas with an enormous dinner that Kazuha had spent all day preparing. It was delightful; everyone had a wonderful time. But Heiji was strangely relieved to see them go. It meant he could be alone with her.

He had locked the front door and made sure all was in order before he had gone seeking his wife. He had found her sound asleep on the couch beside the Christmas tree. She was laid out on her back, one arm behind her head, the other hanging limply over the edge of the couch, and her hair spread around her like a halo of chocolate-colored silk.

She still wears the ponytail—it is almost her trademark, after all. And it keeps her hair out of her way while she's running around (often keeping her somewhat-brash husband in line). But more and more often, when it's just the two of them at home, she lets her hair down. He loves her hair.

Even now, with it spread out behind her head like that, he cannot help himself. His fingers find themselves sliding gingerly through the dark brown locks, taking great care not to disturb her.

He likes to look at her sometimes. For all that they bicker—and they do, constantly, about everything—he can't imagine himself with anyone else, can't picture any other person by his side. Ever.

Especially after tonight.

During dinner, Kazuha had managed to pull the rug out from under him in the most unexpected of ways…and he had been thrilled. Everyone at the table had been delighted at the news, and Christmas had become a celebration in more ways than one.

But now they are alone. Just them, and the knowledge that things are changing.

He moves around her now, to sit beside her. She still does not stir, and he smiles; he'll wake her up soon, if for no other reason than to move her from the couch to the comfort of their bed. But for now, it's not important.

Kazuha…she is so beautiful.

Heiji thinks back to her announcement at dinner, with their parents, watching him with that 'cat ate the canary' grin. Candlelight sparkled in green eyes as she spoke softly, turning his world upside down in the most amazing way imaginable. The delighted cries of his parents and hers, while he stared at her in surprise and admiration.

He has known her for so long. Even after marrying her, he sometimes has trouble looking at her as the adult he knows she is—he looks at her and every once in a while, he sees the little girl or the teenager she once was. And now, there is no doubt. They've _both_ grown up.

And now…

Taken by some sudden impulse, he leans down and slides his arms under her, around her waist, and curls up beside her to rest his head against her stomach. He can feel the rise and fall of her slow, even breathing, and the steady pulse of her heart beating. And then he feels her move. She is waking up.

"Hmmm…Heiji?" Kazuha murmurs, stirring slightly. The hand that has been hanging over the edge of the sofa moves to encircle his shoulders. "What're you doing?" She doesn't sound angry at being woken up, but merely confused at his sudden proximity.

"Shhh…" he shushes, not releasing her. "Can we stay like this? Just for a minute?"

Kazuha looks down at the top of her husband's head for a moment before smiling and relaxing. Her other hand moves from where she has been using it as a pillow to rest on the back of his head. She feels his breathing, steady and deep, and echoes his sigh of contentment.

He was surprised when she told him, and their families. And for a moment, she had wondered briefly if he might go so far as to faint from the news. But instead, she found her hand entwined with his beneath the table, and his eyes continually straying in her direction as he smiled.

"Come on," he says suddenly, sitting up and pulling her up with him. Feeling a bit silly, he scoops her up bridal-style. "I think it's bedtime." She murmurs a bit—it sounds like a weak protest—but her head lulls comfortably against his chest as he carries her to bed.

A long time ago, he remembers, he made a promise to her. No one would ever hurt her when she was with him, if he had anything to say about it. He swore to her as they dangled from a tree-branch over a cliff that he would never let her go, even if he died.

Several months ago, he made another promise, a promise she returned. And they were joined by metal once again, though in a far different way. And now, another promise—one that they created.

The promise of a new life, growing.

* * *

**PS. **_I hope I made it clear—Kazuha's pregnant. That was the announcement. This came out really different from my usual writing style (especially because I almost never write in the present tense), a little bit weird, but overall I'm pretty satisfied with how it came out. Hope you liked it. Thanks, and much love!_


	7. Breath of Heaven

**Title: **Breath of Heaven  
**Author: **Candyland  
**Theme: **_Day Seven: _Beauty, grace, inner beauty, ice skating  
**Series: **Detective Conan  
**Pairing: **Hattori Heiji/Toyama Kazuha  
**Rating: **PG  
**Warnings: **This one is fluffy. And stream-of-consciousness. Sort of.  
**Disclaimer of Evil: **I don't own Detective Conan. All characters and concepts are the sole property of Gosho Aoyama. I merely borrow them and make them my love slaves…ahem.

* * *

_Breath of heaven, hold me together  
Be forever near me, breath of heaven..._

Sometimes, Heiji realized, it was fun to just watch.

He was a detective. He had found he could learn a lot about people simply by observing them—their facial expressions, their movements, or what have you; everything was a potential clue to someone's thoughts and motives. And he was good at it. Hey, he had found Kudo out, hadn't he? Simply by watching and recognizing that something seemed horrendously out of place with the small boy in front of him, he'd called his rival out…and gotten a good friend and a lot of excitement out of the deal.

Anyway, the point was that though he was oft clueless, Heiji could be observant and perceptive when he wanted to be. The problem was that he was more and more often finding his eyes straying towards one particular person. And it baffled him.

* * *

_She had caught him once. He hadn't even realized he was looking until she'd turned to look at him, that damned ponytail swinging around her like some deranged pendulum, and her green eyes had flared with suspicion as she snapped, "What are you looking at?"_

_He had jumped a mile and waved his hands frantically, like he was trying to beat away the notion that he had been—God forbid—looking at her. "I can explain, I can totally explain!"_

_She had waited, tapping her foot expectantly. A cricket chirped. Nearby, someone coughed._

_Finally, he sighed. "Okay, I can't…"

* * *

_

Since then, he had been, especially careful not to let her see him watching. He had found that he could usually sneak peeks in class without anyone overtly noticing. But every once in a while, a prime opportunity presented itself, and he could watch unhindered.

Now was one such opportunity.

She was ice skating. Heiji wasn't a huge fan of the sport, but she had pleaded, and he had relented; he would have given in sooner, but she was always so pretty when she got angry, and it was funny when she yelled at him. Not so funny when his ears started bleeding—man, that girl had lungs on her!

So he'd gone along, and did as the algae did: he clung to the side. There weren't many people there at the time, so by sitting on the edge of the rink, he had a fairly-unobstructed view of her while she skated. She was actually quite good—she could skate backwards, and do some little spins and jumps—nothing fancy, but it was pretty.

Observing her quietly from the edge of the ice skating rink was one of those moments when he could just watch her. She was so absorbed in her skating that she didn't even seem to notice his none-too-discrete scrutiny.

And Heiji watched. There was something almost hypnotic about the way she skated along, gliding over the ice like a bird skimming over the still surface of a pond. Her ponytail streamed out behind her, a banner of brown silk carried by the simple breeze of her movement. Her face was flushed a vibrant pink from exertion.

She was beautiful—he'd keep it behind his teeth even under torture, but he begrudgingly admitted it to himself. He'd never really noticed it before, but she was actually quite graceful. This shouldn't have been much of a surprise, given her extensive aikido training—she'd been taught to control her movements, and it was evident. She moved on the ice like a swan on water.

And much as he teased her, even he had to admit that she cut quite an impressive figure out there on the ice. The white turtleneck looked good. It looked fluffy or fuzzy or whatever it was that girls liked their sweaters to feel like. Gloves, black pants. She looked good.

She stumbled, and he nearly jumped from the wall, but restrained himself when she steadied herself and resumed skating. She was zipping along, occasionally flipping around to skate backwards for a bit, and then forwards again.

And smiling. Kazuha really needed to be more careful about the things she said to Neechan and the setting in which she said those things to Ran. Heiji had just happened to overhear the two girls gossiping, and Kazuha had said something odd—he hadn't caught the whole thing, but it was something about how she liked seeing him smile.

Not that he would ever admit it to anyone (he could only _imagine_ the hell he would catch from Kudo if the mini-tantei ever got wind of this), but for some reason he liked seeing her smile. It meant she was either happy…or she knew something he didn't, which inevitably resulted in embarrassment for Heiji. Or it could mean that she had bested him in argument. But if that was the case, then he wouldn't have been staring at her, he would have been sulking—loudly—in a corner somewhere.

So she was smiling because she was happy. Good. That was the best kind of smile. He liked seeing her happy—she was a little breath of heaven, a constant in a life that was far too chaotic.

…and she was waving at him. He wondered if he was blushing. But he smiled and waved back. Removing his hand from the wall around the rink, though, caused him to lean too far and nearly topple over. Fortunately, he caught himself before he hit the ice.

Great. Now she was laughing at him. He was blushing for sure now.

But he shrugged it off and went on with his observations. Kazuha was still laughing.

She was pretty when she laughed, even when it was at his expense.

Sometimes, Heiji reflected, it was fun to just watch.

Especially when another skater, some idiot boy speeding along backwards, ran right into Kazuha, who had been distracted by the project of laughing at Heiji, and she ended up flat on her back on the ice, screaming her head off.

Then it was just hilarious.

* * *

**PS. **_Day number eight will be up early. Tomorrow is a big day—see, Auntie Candy-chan's getting her wisdom teeth out at eight-thirty in the morning, and she has every intention of sleeping for the rest of the day. Merry Christmas to me, right? So the next one will be posted tonight to make sure it's up on time—hope that's okay with everyone. Wish me luck!_

_This came out a bit like the one from yesterday—only weirder. It was semi-stream of consciousness. Whatever appeared in my head got written—though I did omit the zebras. And "Breath of Heaven" is one of my top four Christmas songs of all time, right up there with "O Holy Night," "Silent Night," and "Mary Did You Know?" Thanks again, everyone, and much love!_


	8. Pat a Pan

**Title: **Pat-a-pan  
**Author: **Candyland  
**Theme: **_Day Eight: _Baking cookies  
**Series: **Detective Conan  
**Pairing: **Hattori Heiji/Toyama Kazuha  
**Rating: **PG  
**Warnings: **This one smells like cinnamon.  
**Disclaimer of Evil: **I don't own Detective Conan. All characters and concepts are the sole property of Gosho Aoyama. I merely borrow them and make them my love slaves…ahem.

* * *

_On your instruments you play  
Tu-re-lu-re-lu, pat-a-pat-a-pan  
We'll be merry when you play...  
_

Kazuha peered over Heiji's shoulder—and her jaw dropped.

When she'd mentioned to Heiji that she was baking gingerbread men cookies, she had been startled when he had asked if he could come over and help. By help, he explained, he meant that he wanted to decorate the cookies.

Surprised at his interest in doing anything other than eating the things, she had readily agreed. After she had brought the first batch out, he had sat down at the table with a supply of frosting and other assorted decorations at his fingertips. He hadn't made a sound since.

After popping the next batch into the oven, curiosity had gotten the best of her, and she had moved out to the table where he was working. And now here she was, staring blankly at his handiwork.

There, on the tray, were caricatures of many people. She recognized a smiling Ran cookie, a smirking Shinichi cookie, a bespectacled Conan cookie (who looked an awful lot like the Kudo cookie, she noted absently), a drooling Mouri cookie, a ponytailed Kazuha cookie, and a cheery Heiji cookie.

Actually, he was holding up the Heiji cookie and the Kazuha cookie and—to her chagrin and amusement—he was dancing them around the table, having them act out some sort of bizarre scene. Sounded like they were arguing—he was frequently using the word _ahou_, both in his own voice and in a higher squeaky tone that she took to be an impression of her voice.

"Heiji."

He froze and turned slowly to peer guiltily over his shoulder. "…yeah?"

She reached over his shoulder and plucked the Kazuha cookie from his hand. "I sound nothing like that." Sitting down next to him, she held the cookie out, and the cookie puppet-show began anew.

* * *

**PS. **_After a couple of fluffy chapters that ran more towards the serious side of Sears, we return to more weirdness. Heiji's so childlike sometimes, I could really see him doing this, for some reason. And BTW, there are about a gazillion versions of the Pat-a-pan lyrics. Just thought you'd like to know. Hope you liked it, thanks a bunch, and much love!_

_Yup, this one's up early. As some of you read this, I will be getting drugged up so I can't even count to one, while they unhinge my jaw to remove four wisdom teeth from the very back of my mouth. I intend to sleep all day tomorrow, so I wanted to make sure y'all had your fic. Good thing I like Jell-O..._

**_YumeTakato, _**_I believe you mentioned something about a Heiji gingerbread man back at about Day Two? Here ya go--GLOMPS!_


	9. In the Bleak Midwinter

**Title: **In the Bleak Midwinter  
**Author: **Candyland  
**Theme: **_Day Nine: _Midwinter  
**Series: **Detective Conan  
**Pairing: **Hattori Heiji/Toyama Kazuha  
**Rating: **PG  
**Warnings: **This one is quasi-pointless…but I like it anyway.  
**Disclaimer of Evil: **I don't own Detective Conan. All characters and concepts are the sole property of Gosho Aoyama. I merely borrow them and make them my love slaves…ahem.

* * *

_In the bleak midwinter  
Frosty winds made moan  
Earth stood cold as iron  
Water like a stone...  
_

One thing that bothered Kazuha about winter was the lack of color.

She liked colors. And the only color in winter was really gray. And white. The snow was white as it fell, and then it turned to that awful charcoal color. It was messier, too, when it turned to slush. Nothing at all complimentary about it, really.

It wasn't that she had anything against snow or winter. She liked snow, and she wasn't horribly averse to the cold. And Christmas was fast approaching. She was just tired of the gray.

The whole season was so draining. By the time winter was over, she was desperate for sunlight and all the colors in nature's palette that weren't white or shades of gray. It was so…depressing. Desolate.

By the time spring rolled around, she was plenty ready for the colorful flowers and blue skies, and the bright, bright green of grass and trees more than anything else. Green was her favorite color, after all; it was vibrant, cheerful, full of life. But in the bleak midwinter…everything was gray, gray, and more gray.

"Kazuha?"

She turned…

"What're you doing out here?"

…and saw green eyes. Watching her curiously.

Green scarf. Brown jacket. Red shirt. Blue jeans. Black and white cap.

But the green eyes were the most eye-catching feature, by far.

"Oh, just…thinking," she replied, suddenly realizing that she was freezing.

"You're going to freeze, ahou," Heiji said with his usual snark.

Kazuha rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She really wasn't in the mood to argue right now—a decided rarity—so she simply walked past him, trying to shake off the chill that had set in while she was standing there woolgathering. Her limbs felt stiff from the cold.

"Hey," he followed her. "You okay?"

She sighed. "Sick of winter, that's all."

"Huh," he half-chuckled. "Well, we're stuck with it for a while longer."

"Yeah…" Kazuha buried her hands deeper into her pockets to try and keep her fingers from turning into icicles. "Light at the end of the tunnel and all. Still have Christmas to look forward to, I guess." A pause. "I miss seeing grass."

Heiji was silent at first, but in a move she would have never expected him to make, he reached out and slid an arm around her shoulders before he said, "You're seriously freezing. Let's get you inside." He smirked. "If you miss the plants and stuff, maybe we should get you a pet cactus or something? Even you couldn't kill that!" His arm stayed snugly around her, though.

She snorted, and looked at him. And she saw green eyes that danced with something she didn't quite have a name for. She had been seeing that a lot from him lately. But she lost herself in the look in his eyes, and as she fell into that green, she thought of spring.

* * *

**PS. **…_I have no idea. But we've had a ton of snow here, and I'm getting kind of tired of the general lack of colors in my world right now. One can only deal with white and gray and no sunshine for so long before you get really sick of it. D__edicated to Cassie and Lauren, with whom I had a long-time running joke about a former friend of ours who used to wear absolutely nothing BUT gray. It just drove us nuts, for some reason._

_And for those who have been paying attention, the wisdom teeth are gone. I am in various stages of misery (Jell-O is my sustenance at the moment...), but I am alive and kicking and still posting as Christmas draws nearer. Thanks for reading. Much love!_


	10. The Holly and the Ivy

**Title: **The Holly and the Ivy  
**Author: **Candyland  
**Theme: **_Day Ten: _Parties  
**Series: **Detective Conan  
**Pairing: **Hattori Heiji/Toyama Kazuha  
**Rating: **PG-13 (for minimal swearing)  
**Warnings: **This one was promised to _fireblazie_. Rejoice, for there is snogging.  
**Disclaimer of Evil: **I don't own Detective Conan. All characters and concepts are the sole property of Gosho Aoyama. I merely borrow them and make them my love slaves…ahem.

* * *

_The holly and the ivy  
When they are both full-grown  
Of all the trees that are in the wood  
The holly bears the crown…_

Today…well, it certainly wasn't the best day ever, but it definitely wasn't the worst.

Wondering what I mean? Let me explain.

Every year, they have a big party down at the station to celebrate Christmas. All the officers and detectives on the Force are invited along with their families. Kazuha and I have been going to these parties yearly since we were babies. Every year we go along, and every year I get heckled about how I managed to pull the punch-bowl on top of myself and went swimming in the resulting mess.

In my defense, I was two years old, thank you very much. But I'm _still_ trying to figure out an appropriate vengeance on the moron who not only videotaped it, but shows it over again every year.

Mature, guys. Real mature.

But anyway, so we're at the Christmas party, and everyone's having a grand old time, goofing off and heckling and making jokes about spiking the punch—not that anyone really needed it, everyone was acting drunk enough as it was, without the aid of alcohol. Spirit of the season and all that fun stuff.

Of course, Kazuha was there. I saw some of the guys standing off to the side, pointing at her and at me and whispering and snickering like a group of teenagers gossiping at their high school prom. Again, real mature, guys. Glad to know we're all adults here.

Moving along, the party was in full swing. I think we were all having a good enough time, hanging out, enjoying the miles and miles of munchies—whoever made that noodle dish should be nominated for sainthood, in my humble opinion—and listening to the music.

All of a sudden, I glanced over and saw Kazuha standing in a doorway, leaning against the doorframe. By herself. Now, I'll admit (to myself, and no one else!) that she actually looked kinda pretty—for her, I mean. Black pants and a red turtleneck. A pretty gold necklace that I think belonged to her mother once upon a time. Hair back in a red ribbon. Honestly, why does she still wear those things? She's been wearing the same freakin' hairdo since we were five. Hell, I steal the things sometimes, from right off her head. Got a couple of them in this little box in my room at home.

…stop looking at me like that.

And no, this has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that her hair looks really good when she wears it down, and I thought I told you to stop looking at me like that! I'm shutting up and moving on now.

Anyway, she was all by herself, and I figured I had a duty to do as the Official Best Friend, so I meandered over, making sure I didn't look too concerned (got to keep up my image and all). She kinda smiled at me as I came to lean against the other side of the doorframe.

We were just watching a couple of the officers downing glass after glass of punch, and discussing what we thought they had added to it and wondering how long it would be before someone started dancing to the muzak version of "Sleigh Ride" playing over our heads…and then someone started laughing.

At us. And pointing. Pretty soon, the entire force was staring at us. Some were snickering, some were high-fiving, some were just looking. But they were all watching Kazuha and I with shark-like stares.

I glanced over at her to see if she knew what was going on. And I saw her point upwards with one finger. And I didn't even have to look.; somehow, I already knew. There was really only one thing that it could have been. I didn't have to look, but I obliged and let my head tip backwards to confirm.

Mistletoe.

Hanging there in all its innocent, red and green glory. Evil glory.

Dammit, sometimes I hate being right…

So there I was, me and Kazuha the Ahou. Standing in the doorway, with that damned sprig of mistletoe hanging over our heads (eeeeeevil…), while the entire Osakan police force looked on with grins that bordered on the maniacal. Seriously, those guys can be downright scary sometimes.

But if rumors are to be believed, they've had a betting pool going about Kazuha and I since we were about twelve years old. I'm pretty sure that most of them are psychotic. Good people, but utterly mad.

"Well?" someone sneered from the back. We had the attention of the entire freakin' party.

Great…

Fortunately, my fellow victim stepped up to the plate in the first attempt to drive them back. "I don't think so!" Kazuha hmphed, crossing her arms and glaring, a silent dare to push her.

"Trust me, it's mutual," I agreed, rolling my eyes. Then, taken by a sudden curiosity, I leaned over and whispered, "Any particular reason you're so against this?"

"It's my first kiss, ahou," she muttered, obviously not wanting anyone else to hear.

"Yeah, mine too," I admitted in an equally quiet whisper.

"I guess I wanted my first kiss to be special," she murmured. "Same probably goes for you."

I thought about it for a minute, decided she was right, and grabbed her by the shoulders and kissed her. I kissed her _good_. When I pulled back, she stared at me. And I said, "That was special enough."

…

…

…

…okay, just kidding. Come on, you know us better than that! Let's pick it up right before the part about the kiss, and I'll tell you the real story. Stay with me, folks, it gets better. Promise.

"I don't think so!" Kazuha hmphed, crossing her arms and glaring, a silent dare to push her.

"Me neither!" I said, imitating her defensive posture. I was whining, and I knew, but dammit, this whole night was embarrassing enough with the stupid home movie of the punch bowl (I _really_ need to figure out a way to get that guy…).

"Aww, come on!" someone cajoled nearby.

"You totally want to!" another voice cheered.

I started a mental hit list, and it just kept growing.

And I swear to God I even saw my _father_ standing at the back of the room, smirking. And Kazuha's dad was right next to him, beaming. What the hell? Weren't most fathers supposed to flip shiz when someone gets anywhere near their precious little girl? Not that there's anything, ahem, precious or little about Kazuha, but you know what I mean—the point is that he's actually encouraging this?

I studiously tried to ignore that disturbing little thought, and tried to refocus on my Mental List o' People to Strangle in Their Sleep. At the rate everyone was going, it would take me until well after New Year's to get everyone.

And out of the corner of my eye, I glanced at Kazuha. Not because I was particularly interested or anything. Just wanted to see if she was getting mad, because she's hilarious when she's pissed off.

But no. She's staring at the wall. Every few seconds her eyes drifted up towards the cursed plant hanging from the ceiling, and she got this weird look on her face (well, weirder than normal, I guess) before looking away again. And the strangest thing was that her face was sort of pink.

Errr…why was she blushing, exactly?

Mayday, mayday. Abandon mission. Run for your life.

I tried to walk away…but some nimrod in front had other plans, and wouldn't let me walk away. He blocked me, the ass. Note to self: find this man after the party—preferably in a darkened corner of the parking lot—and show him all the really fascinating things I can do with a katana.

"Get out of my way," I demanded, ignoring someone cheering that I totally wanted to kiss her. "I do not want to—who in their right mind would—why would I want to kiss _her_, and _would you move already?"_ Now I was getting angry. I glanced back at Kazuha, and saw that her facial expression had completely changed. She was now staring at me with wide eyes.

Apparently, Kazuha's dad saw his daughter's embarrassment and finally took pity on her (and maybe me as well…) and stepped in to rescue us from the ever-encroaching crowd, saying that everyone had teased the children enough. He then ushered us away from the offending plant. Everyone moaned and groaned, but they let us through.

That same guy that hadn't let me back away from the mistletoe was now following me, thumping me on the shoulder, crowing something about how I'd missed a perfect opportunity, and that I'd really done it this time. And I suddenly felt that it was now a prime time to pull out the good ol' philosophy of A.R.I.

Abort. Retry. Influence with Large Hammer.

Fortunately, I was pulled away from the irritating idiot before I could do any real damage. We made it to the back of the crowd without serious injury to ourselves or anyone else. My father was laughing. I studiously ignored him—I've gotten very good at that as of late.

Having escaped from the crowd, I ducked out of the main room into a nearby hallway, where there was no one else around, so I could let my temper cool down and let my urge to kill recede a bit.

Imagine my surprise when I heard footsteps behind me, and turned to see a certain ponytailed ahou following me. But the instant she realized I had noticed her, she turned around and wouldn't look at me. Stubborn ahou…

"Oi, Kazuha," I said, poking her arm, "what's the matter?"

She shook her head and jerked away, refusing to even look at me. That damned ponytail managed to drape over her face in just the right way to block an easy view. "Nothing…" Her voice sounded funny.

Wait…was she crying? Her breathing was all hoarse. It sounded like it. I tiptoed around her to get a better look at her face. Bright red and tear-streaked. Yup. Definitely crying. Crying a lot.

And I reacted in the way any guy seeing his best female friend bawling like that would react.

I froze. Brain shut down entirely.

Pretty sure Kaitou Kid could've shown up at that moment and starting tap dancing on my head, and I wouldn't have noticed—until the weight knocked me over. Then I would have started yelling and chasing him with whatever swingable object was at hand. Annoying bastard.

"Umm…hey," I managed, ever my intelligent and articulate self, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing," she sniffled. "Go away."

Oooooookay…she was being difficult. He sighed. "Come on, talk to me."

"No. Leave me alone."

"Why are you crying?"

"I said leave me alone." She was wiping at her eyes with the edge of her sleeve now. From my vantage point, I could see that it was an exercise in futility more than anything.

"Does this have something to do with the mistletoe?" I guessed.

She hiccupped, but nodded. "That was so humiliating…"

I suddenly found myself wondering if it was the mistletoe, or what I'd said. She'd looked so shocked after I'd started stammering various disclaimers to the effect that I'd rather kiss a tarantula. Okay, maybe not, but I guess I hadn't exactly been very tactful in my attempts to get away from a potentially embarrassing situation.

Taking a deep breath, I put a hand on her shoulder, and was strangely relieved when she didn't jerk away from me. "Hey…" That seemed to be my Word of the Evening. "Is it what I said?"

She took a shaky breath. "You jerk…you're such a jerk…" She was holding her arm up in front of her face on the pretense of crying into her sleeve, but I got the feeling it was also a convenient excuse to not have to look at me. "You're such a jerk…" Hiccup. "Why can't you…ever be nice…about anything?"

I opened my mouth to respond…and closed it with a snap.

Why that one question got to me so much, I'll never know. But I just stared at her back, watching the way her shoulders shook as she tried desperately not to sob out loud. I did that. I caused that with a few too-callous words. It's one thing to argue like we do, but it's another thing entirely to be downright _mean_.

"Kazuha," I began slowly, not quite sure what was going to come out of my mouth, "I—I'm sorry." I saw her straighten perceptibly at that; I'm not usually so quick to apologize. But dammit, it was a Christmas party, and it was Christmas and she _deserved_ to be cheerful and have a good time right now and I messed that up…and I felt bad. "I didn't mean it the way it sounded. I just…"

I sighed and let my arms drop to my sides. I really felt like crap, and I could feel a migraine coming on. Some party. "Look, it isn't you, okay? I mean, everyone was watching and that guy was being a real ass and I think I'm going to have to hurt him later, but anyway—it was embarrassing." I finished lamely. Great, Hattori. That was the poster child for Pathetic Apologies.

To my amazement, she turned and looked at me questioningly. Her eyes were all red and puffy, and her face was bright red. And again, I felt like crap. "Heiji…" she said. And suddenly, her eyes fixated on a point directly above my head. "Heiji?" This time when she spoke my name, it wasn't so much of an 'oh my' thing as an 'OH MY!'

And again, with my keen detective's sense, I knew _exactly_ what she was staring at.

Of course, I had to check first. Oh, _fork_ me…

Yup. Uber-Evil Forced-Kissing Plant of Evil. Naturally.

Fate—you're a bitch. Just thought I'd make that clear.

Honestly, who the hell would hang mistletoe _there_?

I swallowed. Hard. And I dragged my eyes down to Kazuha. Strange how she could still look so nice, even when she was a little bit of a mess from crying like that. She really did look good in red…

…and she was stepping towards me. She didn't look angry, either. I was seriously expecting a beating, but instead I was getting this weird look. What was the word for that expression? It was on the tip of my tongue, right there…

_Click_.

She was looking at me…wistfully?

Wistful…

Mistletoe…

_Double click_.

…oh. Oh. OH!

I get it. I get it now. Of course, I didn't understand it until it was sidling towards me in red and black—good colors, I reflected. I was also slowly realizing that thinking was a baaaaaaad idea.

Okay, now she was really close. The mistletoe was still over my head. And she was looking at me all quizzical and hopeful and—dare I say it—cute. "Heiji?" she whispered. Apparently, that was _her_ Word of the Day, whereas mine was still 'hey.'

_Come on, body,_ I thought, willing myself to move, _catch up with the good ol' thinky organ._

She stared at me for a minute; she looked like she was waiting. Unfortunately, my body was not responding to the commands of my brain—I was trying to reach out, but my arms were stuck. Invisible duct-tape was holding them to my sides or something.

Finally, she frowned and huffed, "Oh, to hell with it!"

And the next thing I know, her arms are around my neck and…

Wow. Just…_wow_.

It was one of those things that I really hadn't known I wanted until I had it. It just fell into my lap, and I latched onto it and wouldn't let go. Kissing Kazuha…oh _man_. And in case anyone's interested, my arms started working again, so I could at least participate.

Ya know, mistletoe is kind of nice.

When the entire Osakan police force isn't standing around jeering at you, that is.

What happened after that, you may ask? Well, let's just say we were there for quite a while…until Kazuha's dad came looking for us. He came flying around the corner, and we jumped a mile, and my nose crashed into her forehead hard enough that I saw lots and lots of pretty stars. I was amazed yet again when he laughed at us while Kazuha clasped both hands to her forehead and I checked to make sure my nose wasn't smashed beyond repair.

I was pretty sure for a minute there that one of the Toyamas—father or daughter—was going to kill me, but I'm still in one piece, and here to tell my little story, of the first time Kazuha and I kissed, spurred on by that god-forsaken plant, which I secretly saved—it's sitting in a little box, right there with a couple of colorful hair ribbons. That's actually the mistletoe from the hallway.

The one from the doorway in the party? Yeah, I personally sent that on a one-way trip to the Great Garden in the Sky, courtesy of a lit match in the parking lot after the party. Never did catch up to that one guy who was heckling me, though.

So that's what happened. So as you can see…it was all my fault, really. And I guess I've never been so glad to have messed up before. But looking back at the events…did I say that today wasn't the best day ever? Let me rephrase that.

_HELL YES, IT WAS!_

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

* * *

**PS. **_It's not a Christmas challenge until someone gets stuck under the mistletoe. And that part in the middle, with the "just kidding" thing…oh, I just couldn't resist doing something stupid. I'm a nerd. The "oh, fork me!" line was stolen (with love) from my friend Jackie, who says it All. The. Time. Of the twelve stories I wrote for this challenge, this is tied for my favorite--the other tied-for-first one is Day Twelve. Thanks, and much love!_


	11. Sleigh Ride

**Title: **Sleigh Ride  
**Author: **Candyland  
**Theme: **_Day Eleven: _Sleigh rides  
**Series: **Detective Conan  
**Pairing: **Hattori Heiji/Toyama Kazuha  
**Rating: **PG  
**Warnings: **This one is bizarre.  
**Disclaimer of Evil: **I don't own Detective Conan. All characters and concepts are the sole property of Gosho Aoyama. I merely borrow them and make them my love slaves…ahem.

* * *

_Just hear those sleigh bells jingle-ing  
Ring ring ting-a-ling too  
Come on, it's lovely weather  
For a sleigh ride together with you... _

"Heiji, come on."

"No, I have to make sure."

"I think it's obvious."

"But I have to make _sure_."

Kazuha crossed her arms and huffed. And she waited. Normally, she didn't overly mind Heiji's detective work, but this was so obvious as to be ridiculous. Still, she was patient. It made him happy.

Finally, Heiji stood up. The gathered police officers listened intently as he turned away from the body—an elderly woman with hoof prints and sled-tracks on her back, splayed face-down in the snow. "It's official," he proudly proclaimed his theory. "Grandma got run over by a reindeer."

* * *

**PS.** _I was going to title this one Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer, but that would have made this far too obvious, wouldn't it? Not sure if this is clichéd or not, but oh well. Yay for more random weirdness of the drabble variety. Thanks, and much love!_


	12. All I Want for Christmas

**Title: **All I Want for Christmas  
**Author: **Candyland  
**Theme: **_Bonus mini-fic!  
_**Series: **Detective Conan  
**Pairing: **Hattori Heiji/Toyama Kazuha  
**Rating: **PG  
**Warnings: **This one is just for fun.  
**Disclaimer of Evil: **I don't own Detective Conan. All characters and concepts are the sole property of Gosho Aoyama. I merely borrow them and make them my love slaves…ahem.

* * *

_I just want you for my own  
__More than you could ever know  
__Make my wish come true  
__All I want for Christmas is you…_

Kazuha stared. She couldn't help it.

After all, it wasn't every Christmas that she came downstairs and found a pajama-clad Heiji bound and gagged and _extremely_ irritated under their Christmas tree. She was too startled to laugh, so she set about releasing him from his bonds.

"What happened?" she asked, pulling away the last cord—it wasn't rope, it was too smooth. Nothing that would chafe the wrists, and please no one take that in anyway other than the way it's intended to be taken, thank you.

"I'm just walking down the hall, in my own house, minding my own business," he huffed, "when this big fat guy in a red suit jumped me and stuffed me in a bag. Next thing I know, I wake up there, like that!" He gestured towards the vicinity of the Christmas tree, scowling.

Kazuha blushed. Apparently, Santa had taken her quite seriously when she'd jokingly said she wanted Heiji for Christmas…though the kidnapping _really_ wasn't necessary. She'd been more aiming towards a picture in her stocking or some such things. Ran had teased her about making her a doll...though what kind of doll Ran had in mind was not quite clear.

Still, she could think of worse things to find under the tree…

* * *

**PS. **_I thank my sister for this—she made the comment to me over the phone AFTER I had already finished all the stories for the challenge, and I could not help myself. Thus, y'all get a little bonus mini-fic. Thank you, O Bratty One. _

_This is not the actual Twelfth Day of Christmas. The Twelfth Day will be posted later tonight, because I really want to end the challenge on that note. So you get the bonus story now, and the real Twelfth Day of Christmas will be up later. Hope that's okay with everyone (grin) Much love!_


	13. Silent Night

**Title: **Silent Night  
**Author: **Candyland  
**Theme: **_Day Twelve: _Christmas Eve, author's choice  
**Series: **Detective Conan  
**Pairing: **Hattori Heiji/Toyama Kazuha  
**Rating: **PG  
**Warnings: **This one is sweet and romantic…and make-out-tastic.  
**Disclaimer of Evil: **I don't own Detective Conan. All characters and concepts are the sole property of Gosho Aoyama. I merely borrow them and make them my love slaves…ahem.

* * *

_Silent night, holy night  
__All is calm, all is bright…_

Hattori Heiji and Toyama Kazuha had always been together. And for as long as they had been together, they had always bickered. Constantly. It was their little ritual, certain as the sun rising in the east. Tale as old as time…and so forth.

Normally, these were just petty arguments that were forgotten almost as quickly as they began, and everyone moved on with their lives. But every once in a while, as is the case with even the closest of friends, they would have a real blow-out, the kind of fight that left both storming away angrily with the intention of not speaking to each other for the next several days. These were rare for this particular pair, and the non-communication had never lasted more than two or three days before.

Unfortunately, one such explosion happened on Christmas Eve.

As they both thought about it later, neither could remember what the catalyst had been, the spark that had set the proverbial powder-keg ablaze. But if history proved accurate, then they wouldn't be speaking to each other again until probably the twenty-sixth or the twenty-seventh. The problem herein lay in the fact that the Toyama family and the Hattori family always enjoyed the holiday together.

That didn't look like a realistic idea this year, as the two children weren't speaking.

And so on Christmas Day, Kazuha woke up feeling like hell. A glance in the mirror proved that at the moment, she also looked like hell. Luckily, Heiji wasn't there to make a snarky comment about her appearance, and she scowled at the idea as she picked up her brush and set about making herself at least quasi-presentable before going downstairs to join her father in the ceremonial opening of presents.

Her hair probably didn't deserve to bear the force of her irritation, but it was pulled back into its usual ponytail in short order, and swung behind her as she meandered down the stairs, still pajama-clad and in slippered feet, to see what goodies had been left under the tree.

As was to be expected, her father was already up, dressed, and nursing what was probably at least his third cup of coffee. He smiled indulgently as she made her appearance, and didn't seem at all surprised by her attire—after all, pajamas were perfectly suitable for lounging about and opening Christmas presents. He simply wished her a good morning, and a Merry Christmas.

Thus, the present-opening did begin. It didn't take terribly long, as it was just the two of them. And when the last paper had been torn and the last thank-you offered, they both sat back to relax. Until…

"Kazuha…" her father said suddenly, leaning over and pulling something white and rectangular from the evergreen branches. "What's this?" He looked at it carefully. "It has your name on it."

He passed her the envelope; sure enough, her name was on the front in a handwriting she knew all too well. Now intrigued, she flipped it over and tore into it. There was a small white note card inside, bearing that same familiar handwriting. Quickly, her eyes scanned over the message.

Said eyes widened in surprise.

Feeling her father's questioning look, she smiled. "Oh, just a Christmas card," she cheered, sticking the note back into the envelope. "Nothing important." It wasn't convincing, and all parties involved knew it, but the matter was dropped, and attention was turned to other matters.

When her father left for the Hattori household later that evening, she remained behind, citing her argument with Heiji as reason for her not to go. No amount of cajoling from her father would change her mind; stubborn to a fault, that was Kazuha. But after he had left, she retrieved the envelope and studied its contents again. Finally, making her decision, she went back to her room in search of clothes.

_Radiant beams from thy holy face  
__With the dawn of redeeming grace…_

Kazuha walked briskly towards the park. The last few rays from the sunset stretched into the gathering haze, casting languid pink and orange fingers on the darkening gray clouds. Maybe it would snow again soon. She sort of hoped so—it was always nice to have snow on Christmas. But they really hadn't had much snow this season, so it was a long-shot that they would get the white stuff now.

She had debated over this for a good part of the day before deciding that she really had nothing to lose by going to see what was up. The note had been cryptic, to say the least, but it had been enough to whet her curiosity. And then there was that annoying little voice that kept suggesting things that she couldn't believe and refused to accept as even remote possibilities.

She wondered what Heiji wanted to talk to her about. Maybe it was about the big fight they'd had the previous evening? That was out of character for him, though—he usually had to stew in it for a couple of days before he was willing to take the first step, or it was left to her. But maybe with today being Christmas, and their families getting together…

Quickening her pace, she rounded the corner, heading for their meeting place. It was nothing spectacular, just a certain bench that they had sort of claimed as theirs. During the spring, it was a great place to sit and admire the flowers and trees, in summer its position beneath a large tree provided ample shade from the punishing sun, and in the winter, it offered a good view of a snowy plain and the neighborhood's favorite sledding hill.

Sure enough, Heiji was already there, sitting on the bench; he looked uneasy, almost nervous. But as soon as his eyes lighted on her, he jumped up. She walked right up to him, stopping a few arm's lengths away. Best to not get too close until she knew what he wanted.

He looked at her quizzically. Finally, the tension got to be too much, and she decided to get this show on the road, as he was obviously waiting for her to begin. For whatever reason.

"I…" she swallowed hard, "I got your note. What do you want?"

Heiji blinked at her. "But…you sent _me_ the note." He pulled a slightly-creased envelope from his pocket, and she saw his name on the front in a very familiar scrawl. "It was on our tree this morning. This is your handwriting, isn't it?" Of course it was. He knew her handwriting as well as his own.

She took it and looked at it. "…this is my handwriting…" she confirmed, and she held her own note out to him. "Here, this is what I got. It was stuck on the branches of our Christmas tree, too. And I swear that's _your_ handwriting." He studied it, and nodded. "And these both say the same thing," she added, looking back down at it.

_Heiji, _(she read his note to herself) _I need to talk to you. It's really important. Can you meet me at the park at sunset? Our usual meeting place—you know where it is. Please—it's important. –Kazuha_

Hers had said the exact same thing; the only difference was the switching of their names. She had thought it odd initially—it hadn't sounded like Heiji, but she hadn't paid the notion much heed. After all, it was his handwriting. But he looked bewildered, holding an identical note, and she knew he was telling the truth when he said he hadn't written it.

So then how…or rather, who? And _why_?

She looked up at him, not quite sure what to think. He looked back at her, and she remembered how beautiful his eyes really were. It was dark now, except for a nearby streetlamp, and his eyes almost seemed to glow, luminous and hypnotic…

And something small and white drifted between them, from the sky to the ground.

Kazuha's eyes widened. "It's snowing…"

Sure enough, more snowflakes floated around them, falling from the clouds she had observed earlier. They both looked around at the big, fat flakes. Heiji even held out one gloved hand and caught a few of them, watching curiously as they melted against the black fleece.

"Kazuha…" he said slowly, still looking at his hand.

"Hmm?" she said, looking up at the sky.

"Who do you think wrote those notes?" he asked, lifting his gaze to her.

Her chin dropped so she could look at him. "…I don't know," she said after a moment. "It's bizarre. But…I guess I'm grateful." She smiled as he looked surprised. "I hate it when we fight, Heiji. And…hell, it's Christmas. And…" She trailed off, not quite sure what she was going to say next, or if she was really ready to say it yet.

Heiji nodded. "Yeah…pretty much. But…"

The silence said more than their words ever could as what remained unspoken hung between them—a promise, and a burden that they desperately, desperately wanted to share.

Finally, Heiji took a deep breath. "Hey…c'mere…"

She didn't need to be told twice.

It could never be said that those two didn't know each other inside and out, save for one tiny thing that both had guarded so very carefully. The simple—or not-so-simple—act of offering and receiving a hug conveyed volumes and volumes without a single verbalized word. Silent apologies, and preciously guarded secrets that were screaming to be let out.

"The snow…" Kazuha sighed into his shoulder, feeling the wool of his scarf against her neck. "Isn't it beautiful?"

"Yeah…beautiful…" he said softly

She felt his head move, and wondered what exactly he was looking at when he agreed with her. Choosing not to think about it, she inhaled deeply. He smelled like cinnamon. But when she felt him move again, stepping back, she begrudgingly resigned herself to letting go…

…until their cheeks brushed, and they both froze.

_TOO CLOSE! TOO CLOSE! _Kazuha's rational side screamed.

_SHUT UP! SHUT UP! _her romantic side responded indignantly.

She inched back, her hands still clenching at his jacket, feeling the brush of his skin against hers—the contact made her stomach do cartwheels—until she could turn her head _ever_ so slightly and look at him, feeling her nose brush against his and his breath on her face and his eyes were _right there_ and…

She didn't think he would actually do it. She never would have thought that Hattori Heiji, of all people, would have the nerve to do _that_, with her or anyone else. But he did.

He kissed her. It wasn't deep or expert, but damned if it didn't take her breath away and her knees right out from under her. And without so much as a second thought, she returned the favor enthusiastically, if a bit awkwardly. She certainly didn't have experience in this particular department.

But she was certainly willing to learn. And practice.

When he released his possessive hold on her lips, it was like a light went on and he realized exactly what he had done. And he looked as terrified as she had ever seen him, like he was terrified that she would deck him or reject him.

And Kazuha smiled. "Heiji?" she murmured, pulling him closer. "Merry Christmas." And she kissed him again, meeting no protests.

Had they been listening carefully, they would have heard the faintest of sounds. The musical sound of sleigh bells, disappearing off into the distance, through the silence of the falling snow.

_Sleep in heavenly peace  
Sleep in heavenly peace

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_

**PS. **_I must include my friend Kat's comment when I mentioned this chapter to her. She said (and I quote), "If it's make-out-tastic…how can it be a silent night?" I sent her a snuggle-glomp via MSN. When I told her the plot and that "someone" set them up, she immediately asked if **fireblazie** broke into their houses. I don't know…fireblazie, did you break into their houses? (BTW, borrowed the 'cinnamon' thing, hope you don't mind…I have cookies…)_

_This was tied for my favorite with Day Ten ("The Holly and the Ivy"), just because I'm very fond of how both of them turned out. Anyway, with this the challenge concludes. I wanted to end with this one, just because I was so happy with how it came out! __Thank you all for reading. I wish you all a Happy Holidays, whichever one you celebrate, and may you and your families be blessed this season. Take care, y'all, and much love!_

_(Candy-chan toodles off into the sunset, watching out for runaway reindeer)_


End file.
